Hand printing-press.



J. W. READ. HAND PRINTING PRESS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1909.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. W. READ. HAND PRINTING PRESS. APPLIOAI'ION FILED NOV. 6, 1909.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.ZiZJ/ZZO? (jiz @Redd outrun sTAtras PATENT. orrron JOHN W. READ, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

HAND rmnrriae-rimss.

lSpecification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 21, 1911. Application filed November 6, 1909. Serial No. 526,575. 1

stone and for letterpress purposes, by means of which short runs may be more economically dealt with than is possible with'the presentchines.

According to my invention I adapt for the purpose of lithographic transferring and printing, as well as for letter-press printing, what prlnting trade as the Soldan Lightning self'inking proof press;

travels, is mounted in a-carriage which carries the inking roller, the carriage being movablealong bearers so asto pass over the type or prlnting blocks carried upon the bed,

face of the lithographic stone or other lithographic surface. In order to accommodate the varying thicknesses of the stones or the like and to raise and lower' the same when required, I increase the depth of the bed and provide for a greater amount of verticaladjustment which, it will be understood, must be of accurate parallel description; or the cylinder imay be provided with suflicient adjustment with regard to the carriage for the same purposes, or both the bed and the cylinder may be adjustable. Preferably, means are provided wherebyon the return movement of the carriage over the stone or the like the cylinder is raised above the surface of said stone or the like; and means are also provided whereby the ink-ing rollers and damping appliance may be retained in may be used for the purpose of transferring hand presses and power driven mais known in the letter-press In this type of press the cylinder, with which the paper to .the stone or the like the matter to be ing the bearers and by providing a duplicate set of inking rollers and'dampers at the respective sldesof the cylinder, the press may tions of travel, suitable feeding tables or surface being provided at both ends of the press and the sets of inking rollers and dampers being alternately raised according to the direction. of travel by suitable means preferably of the automatic type.

. In theaccompanying drawings Figure l constructed according to my invention, Fig. 2 IS a sectional View, drawnto a larger scale,

movements of the cylinder and the inking and damping rollers. Fig. 3 is a modification of. a detail. i

The general construction of' the proof press'is well known to letterpress printers, and may be shortly described as follows :--A I suitable supporting framework a is provided at its upper part with. a. pair of channel bearers b one at: each side, upon which the carriage c is carried and guided during its travel fromend to end. The carriag'ec has mounted therein the ink distributing rollers and the impression cylinder 01 which is rotated by spur wheels e fixed to the cylinder shaft f meshing in. toothed racks g fixed in the channels of the bearers b so that the the bearers. The carriage c is driven along the bearers by a pair of pinions h journaled in the sides ofthe carriage and meshing with theracks, the pinion shaft it being rotated by a crank handle a. The bed upon which the galleys or forms of type are placed is adjustable by means of a movable wedge plate to a comparatively limited extent and is located in the middle between the bearers. For lithographic printing it is necessary of, course that sucha press should have a clamping appliance, and I have found that certain other additions and modifications are essential chiefly owing to the different nature of the surface to be printed from and to various operations, in the lithographic printing process which are not present in letter-press work. For example the cylinder is resiliently supported in addition to' the pressure- 'being applied thereto .through springs or other resilient means; and both the inking printed. It will be obvious that by extendis aside elevation, partly in section, of a llthographic transferring and printing press illustrating the adjustments or vertical pitch line lies in the same plane as that of be arranged to yield a print in both direcand damping rollers must be capable of bemg raised if the press is to be efficient in use.

I For the above purposes, the bearing blocks I f whichearry the cylinder shaft 7 are supported on. springs Ja, and the pressure is applied through springs 1 arranged between the blocks fl and pressure plates m. The means for applying the pressure 'to the plates will "be. described hereafter. The 10 damping rollers '12 are mounted in a frame 0 which is pivoted at 0 to the carriage c, and the inking rollers p are similarly mounted in a framer which is pivoted at rf to the carriage 0. Both. of these frames- 0 and 1' are provided with means for raising their respective. rollers out of contact with the printing surface. when required and in the example shown this is effected by cams or eccentrics sfittedwith anti-friction rollers or flwheels s, the eams sbein fixed on the v Y spindles s inounted'in the" rames 0 and 1- and rotated-into position-by the side handles t. The handles farepreferably each provided with a stud of which may engage in sockets or recesses tf forlned in the side of the ca'rria'gec for the-purpose of determining the position of the cam s with respect to the outer bearer surfaces. y

As-before mentioned, a yielding pressure 0 is applied to the cylinder such as by the intel-position of springs Z between the pressure plates m and the bearing blocks f.- The means for applying the pressure should be such that the pressure may be instantly relieved so as-to enable the cylinder (2 to rise sufliciently to be out of contact with the printing surface yet permitting its spur wheels e to remain in mesh with the racks g. In Fig. 2 a system of levers and links is em- 40 loyed' at both sides of the carriage to efect the object. It is a lever pivoted at u to the carriage and-carrying at one end an antifriction wheel a which runs upon the inner bearer surface. The other end of the lever u is pivoted at u to a link 1) which is formed with a slotted projecting arm a and is pivotally connected at o to an arm 11 fixed toa shaft 21 provided with a-handle c (Fig.- 1). w is a pressure foot which is pivoted upon a pin 10 fixed in a radius sus- I pension link w ;Which is pivoted at w to the cap f of'the cylinder bearing frames. One end of said pin w projects into the slot of the arm a and the other end of said pin w works inaslot 7 formed in the side wall of the cap 7. The full lines show the posi-tion when pressure is being applied, and the dotted lines indicate the position whenthe pressure is relieved. To effect the release of the pressure, a pair of stops or in- I clines m (Fig. 1) are fixed to the top surface.

of the inner bearers, so'that when the carriage reaehe's that part-of the press, the wheels u of the levers u rise upon the stops '65 a and rock the levers u' about their fulcra u,

other, and thereby adj usting screws -e ected by hand or by thereby drawing the link 1) forward and displacing the pressure foot w, the cylinder 0 i then rising under the influence of the springs is. The parts remain in the released. position-during thereturn motion. of the carriage, when pressure is again applied by partially rotating the shaft o by means of the handle a The link a isformed with the ,tappet e which is arranged toactuate the grippers of the cylinder, as is known in the proof press, to gri the paper fed thereto by hand from the eeding table a innne diately before the commencement of the forward motion of the carriage As in the proof press. above referred to, the paper wraps around the cylinder and after receiving the impression is delivered at the top.

The lithographic stone or the like 3 is supported upon abed g which is adapted to rise and fall between guides on the side frames a. The. bed is carried by a wed e plate 2 of suitable construction which works upon a cross plate'z fixedto the side frames. The bed, wedge plate, and cross plate are preferably of cellular or box formation as shown to secure the desired rigidity. The bed 3 carriesat one end a shaft y in suitable brackets, theshaftprojecting through a slot 1 in the side frame a and-being fitted witha hand wheel ;2 Th shaft, 3 also has fixed to it a bevel wheel meshing with a bevel wheelon the end of a screw 2 which works through an internally screw-threaded boss 2 fixed to the wedge 2. By adjusting the position of the wedge 2 by means of the hand Wheel the bed 3 is raised or lowered as required. 'The'bed y is preferably provided with means whereby its upper surface may be adjusted to an inclined position in order-to accommodate those stones which are thicker at one end or side than the bring the prepared surface of thestone to, the proper level. Forthis purpose I may, provide a bed plate A which is supported upon a central boss A its inclination being regulated by means of A or equivalent device,

see Fig. 3.

For transferring to the stone, the transfer sheet is laid upon the prepared surface of the stone in the usual manner; the inking andv damping rollers are raised and secured in that position, and the carriage is then run forward and backward so that the cylinder exerts an even pressure over the surface of the stone until the transfer is effected. The

processes of stripping off the sheet and inkin up are'then carried out, the latter being the inking rollers When the stone is ready 1 25 damped the papervis laid and fed forward to the on the carriage. for printing and upon .the table '0 cylinder grippers, the handle 0 is then depressed closing the grippers and bringing pressure to bearupon the'cylinder. The

ing rollers preceding the cylinder and the damping rollers following. On reaching a predetermined position, the printed paper is delivered to hand, and the pressure on the cylinder is relieved by the contact of the lever wheels u with the stops or inclines. On the return motion, the damping and ink.- ing rollers again pass over the printing surface, the cylinder being raised to prevent contact. The operation is repeated for each impression or copy.

For letter-press work, the required level to receive the form, the inking rollers are changed for others, and the damping appliance is raised or removed bodily from the carriage.

I claim 1. In a hand press for lithographic transferring and printing and for letter-press printing, the combination with a cylinder mounted in a hand propelled carriage and rotated by spur-wheels meshing with racks on the framework, of adjustable resilient pressure mechanism for said cylinder, a hand regulating device for applying the pressure, the pressure, and resilient supportsfor said cylinder adapted to raise the cylinder above the printing level when the pressure therein is released, as set forth.

'2. In a hand press for lithographic transferring and printing and for letter-press printing, the combination with a cylinder mounted in a hand propelled carriage and rotated by spurwheels meshing with racks on the framework, of adjustable resilient pressure mechanism for said cylinder, a hand pressure applying device, a pressure releasing mechanism, resilient supports for said cylinder adapted to raise the cylinder when the pressure is released, a frame connected to the carriage carrying the inking rollers a franie connected to said carriage carrying the damping device and raising devices for said frames, as set forth.

3. In a printing press of the type set forth, in combination, a support, a bed for the stone or type, a carriage movable from end to end of the support and in its movement traversing the bed, an impression cylinder supported by the carriage and rotatable continuously with the movement of the carriage from one end of the support to the other, the cylinder having two positions, in

the bed is raised to a releasing mechanism to remove one of which it contacts with the stone or type and in the other of which it is distant from the stone or type, means operable automatically whenthe carriage reaches the limit of its forward movement to produce the displacement of the cylinder to the position wherein it is distant from the stone or -type, a frame pivotally mounted at the forward end of the carriage and carrying inking rollers, a frame pivotally mounted atthe rearward end of the carriageand carrying the damping rollers, and manually operable means for producing pivotal displace ments of the frames.

4. In a printing press of the type set forth, in combination, an impression cylinder and a bed for the stone or type, the cylinder and the bed having relative reciprocatory movement, springs for moving the cylinder to a position wherein it is distant from the stone or type, springs arranged in opposition to the first springs, a pressure foot'associated with the last-named springs, mech-' anism to cause the pressure foot to bear against or to withdraivpressure from the last-named springs, a hand lever for causing the mechanism to perform the first func tion, and a stationary cam for causing the mechanism to perform the second function.

5, In a printing press of the type set forth, in combination, a cylinder frame, an impression cylinder, spring supports for the shaft of the cylinder, springs working in opposition to the spring ,supports, a pressure foot bearing against the last named springs, means for moving the pressure foot to put pressure on or to withdraw pressure from the last named springs andpomprismg a lever pivoted between its ends, arocl;

shaft having an arm, a link connecting the lever and the arm and having a slotted extension, a. part stationary with relationto the cylinder and having a slot which extends at an angle to the slot in the extension and a pin provided on the pressure foot and projecting into both of the slots, and a stone or type'bed with. relationato which the cyl inder is reciprocatory.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses. 1

JOHN W. READ.

Witnesses:

WALTER I. SKERTEN, Gino. J. B. FRANKLIN. 

